possumkiwi

There are threads about film and TV, music, spelling and grammar errors, all of which run way over 50 pages. They're obviously worthy of the moderators' time, but 18 pages of discussion about gun laws after two mass shootings in a week (in which I've made...three posts...are detrimental to "quality golf content". - This is a golf forum with an area specifically described as being for politics, off-topic subjects etc, but you're only supposed to have "casual" discussions, whatever that means, and stick to golf at all times. - Moderators can and will shut down topics they don't agree with, but are happy to let other non-golf threads run to 80 pages - If you're a new member, you can't have discussions about stuff we've covered in the past, because the more established members are tired of it If that's the way it is, you can keep it. Enjoy your lives.

For goodness' sake. If you lot want to have a golf forum, remove the grill room, remove all the other non-golf bits, and stop pretending you're open to other stuff being discussed. The "important to the membership" sounds exactly like the dinosaurs at my and many other clubs. Looking after their own, invariably conservative interests in the name of "the membership". Guess what - the people here who disagree with you and the moderators - we're as much "the membership" as anyone else. The Grill Room Follow this 0 If you've got something off-topic (like politics, religion, or other non-golf, non-sport, non-geek topics), discuss it here. Grill Room Rules No hats or jeans allowed. Just kidding. Please keep things courteous and civil. Though discussions can become heated, it is incumbent upon everyone to act like an adult who respects others.

I'm with this guy. It's even worse when a pro-gun moderator makes the call to shut it down. You Americans love to shout about your democracy and freedoms and so on, which is all fine, until someone disagrees with the guys who make the rules. For the record, and to paraphrase Jim Jeffries, legislation has to pander to the lowest common denominator. Think of speed limits. "I'm a good driver. A responsible driver. I've taken car control courses and I drive the latest vehicle which I have safety checked all the time. I should be allowed to drive as fast as I want to." But you can't, because no matter how good you think you are, there are thousands, millions of people who aren't, and so the limit has to be set to cater for them.

I like to walk, and I have a push cart. Motorised carts are fun and I use them on the more resort-style courses - one of my favourites is getting on for 7500 yards from the tips with some long distances between the greens and next tees. However for 95% of the rounds I play, I like to walk. Like others have said, the exercise, thinking time and social aspect of walking makes the choice easy for me.

Driving for me, and course management. Taking a breath and reminding myself to play safe, especially if things are going badly. It's tempting to try to rescue a bad shot with a high-risk recovery, but being a bit more patient with myself has yielded good benefits. With the driver, alignment, ball position in my stance, posture, keeping my right elbow close, and not trying to hit the cover off it have all improved my fairways hit, and have gone a long way towards reducing (not eliminating!) my slice. It's a lot to remember at address!

My course prints times for the hole on each card. For example if you teed off at 1pm, you're expected to be on the tee at no. 2 by 1:09, 3rd by 1:17 etc. Seems to work, but like has been pointed out in other threads, everyone has their part to play. Greens staff shouldn't cut pins directly behind deep bunkers and have 6" rough heading into a weekend. Players should be aware of where they're supposed to be on the course. Marshals should use diplomatic but non-negotiable language. "Gentlemen, I really need you to pick up the pace - you're about ten minutes behind where you should be". In my experience, not many people try to play slowly.

If I don't play, how am I supposed to get any worse?

Beautiful day, horrible golf. I was glad I was by myself. One of those rounds the golfing gods give you every now and then to make sure you're not getting any kind of an ego. I hit fat, I dug holes with my irons, skied my driver three times, left chips 20 feet short, topped a 6i, lipped out five times, went in every bunker I could see (and some I didn't see) and just generally sucked. Lost four balls, broke my 5i and had passed 100 by 15. I topped it all off by skying a drive and losing it in the sun. The ball landed 100 yards forward and left, plopping softly on a green where another group were putting. That was one of the more embarrassing walks of my golfing career.

I care. And I'm not even American. I just don't like being lied to. People can't just go making shit up because it suits them - much less someone who's got aspirations to lead a country, particularly a democracy.

Left lower back, and pride!

I don't know the episode names, but... The one with Hank Scorpio The chili cookoff one The B Sharps Mr Plow Bart gets done for shoplifting, more specifically, the "capisce/catfish" scene Where Homer gets all that sugar Homer gets morbidly obese The foodie one as @Shindig mentioned Hipsters move in next door

I'm really attached to my Cleveland CG16s, and I'm not a good enough player to benefit from irons with more workability. Actually thinking of getting them regripped, though it is hard when you see all the shiny new stuff in the shop. I hit the new 588 TTs and MTs the other day and to be honest I couldn't notice any difference between my clubs and the two new ones.

48-47 for a 95 on Saturday. Driver was humming deep and straight and now I'm at the point where I'm surprised when I hit a slice rather than expecting it. However there's always something to bring you back to earth and on this day it was short irons. I've been playing around with my grip and got the face way too open. This combined with getting too wristy meant I had three or four which squirted low and right, ruining approaches from good positions. I'm not a long hitter - gotta spend some time on the launch monitor but at a guess I'd say a 220 carry. With this in mind I've embraced the layup which so far (hosel rockets aside) has yielded better scores than trying to cane a 3W and usually ending up in a greenside bunker, or worse. Good news is they've finally trimmed the rough so it's no longer ankle high. Always good to finish with the same ball you started with!

Saturday: Solid off the tee, poor short irons, iffy putting, 95. Sunday (nine holes with the lady): Inconsistent off the tee, good mid and short irons, better putting, 44.

You know that bit in Paper Tiger when he's playing with Dr Suttie and the annoying college kid, and he hits the shot that from the start of his downswing he knows will be perfect? I had one of those recently, 3rd on a 550yd par 5. I'd just driven the green on a short par 4, then split the fairway after playing through. 9i in hand, my one swing thought was "takeaway". Swung smooth as silk, perfect divot flying right in line with the ball, which was dead at the pin, hopped once and stopped a foot away. Tap in birdie, then par on the next hole - golf's easy.

Some great yarns here! Two which stick in my mind: the first is being invited to play nine after work with a friend, who’s a solid 4HC and hits the most beautiful iron shots I’ve ever seen. He’s a lovely guy and makes crappy golfers like me feel ok about their terrible shots. His advice is always “I don’t care if you’re rubbish – just don’t be rubbish and slow.” Anyway I show up and there’s two other guys there who both play off low numbers. You can guess how this goes. I don’t think I made solid contact until about the 4th hole and even then was trying to hit too hard. Big slices, topping the ball, I was all over the place and getting more frustrated and nervous by the minute. The 8th was a short par 3 along a row of houses, everyone else on the green and me on the tee. I play for the slice and snap hook a 6 iron onto someone’s roof. Reload – my last ball. Deep breath. Relax the grip. Loosen shoulders. Swing slow. Snap hook onto same roof. Utterly mortified, I mutter an apology and leave the course. Second was my first proper tournament. I’d been playing really well leading up and was feeling confident. First day was a mixed stableford and we’re the first group away off the first, par 5 with a nice wide landing area, 60 or so people watching. Ladies’ tee 50 yards or so in front, where the two ladies were waiting, guarded by a big tree in front of it but well off line to the right. I hit 3W to make sure she stays in the fairway and get it right out of the screws. Unfortunately I’ve blocked it right and it screams right into the trees, directly at our partners. Thankfully it hits something solid and stops, but now I’m not only the jackass who’s hitting his 2nd from under a tree 50 yards from the tee, I also can’t be trusted to hit straight off the tee, so for the rest of the round, the ladies don’t go forward to their tee until after I’ve hit my shot. For the record, I got schooled by a lady old enough to be my mother, who was absolutely lethal from 100 yards in.

Yeah, that's stupid. Happens at my course as well.

Slow your swing down! Couple of guys have mentioned it already, but one of the three times I've broken 80 was when I concentrated on swinging slow. I can't usually work the ball on purpose but I could hit a nice high draw when I swung at 70%, and if I'm honest, distance didn't suffer much at all, since I was generally making better contact. However it's intimidating facing a long carry over wasteland or water, or with a strong wind in your face, and not trying to hit the cover off it! Watching Lydia Ko is a good example.

My buddy and I asked a single once and his reply was "I have three kids under 5 and this is the only peace and quiet I get all week, so if you don't mind I'd rather just be on my own." Poor bastard, we thought that was a fine excuse so left him to it.

A miserable 107 at my course. 6321 yards off the whites, slope 129, rated 70.6. The rough is thick and ankle deep so missing the fairway costs both strokes and balls. I got punished out there - looking forward to next time and breaking 90 for the first time there! We're headed into summer so should be a bit more roll on the fairways - conversely the greens will probably be lightning. I just hope they trim that rough!

At the moment - honestly - I have only a general idea. I've battled a big slice for a couple of years now, but it's only in the last 2-3 months I've started hitting straight. I still can't hit a draw, but now I'm annoyed and surprised when I hit a slice or big fade, rather than expecting it (and aiming miles to the left!) Last time I played everything went left off the tee, beautifully long and with no movement in the air, but left. I lost 5 balls this way! Back to the swing coach...

I rented some clubs at a course in South Carolina not long ago. Parts bin stuff - they were sh*t. The newest club in the bag was a R7 driver. I asked if there were any stiff shafts available and it wasn't til I got to the first that I noticed the PW was a ladies' graphite shafted thing. It was like trying to hit the ball with a piece of string. However I managed to stick one close purely by fluke - the rest were all over the place! I've hit my fiancé's clubs a few times and I just can't get into a rhythm with them.

Big old bear at Nicklaus North in Whistler, was in no hurry to move along either. I'll try to dig out a photo. Pretty novel for a Kiwi, our biggest worries are getting dive-bombed by magpies in spring!

-State your Handicap/index and your goal. Currently what I feel is a generous 12.0 - single figures by the end of our season (finishes 3 April) would be nice. - Are you taking lessons, if not how are you going about improving? I do work with a coach with swing tracking and whatnot but not nearly enough as I'd like. He has an indoor facility I don't really like as the equipment doesn't seem all that accurate - I'll flush a 6i and it'll tell me it's gone 80 yards. As a result I generally see him for swing path adjustments but practice by going to the range with a specific thing to work on, or just play 9 and drop a bunch of balls along the way. - How much do you practice/play and what is your strategy to improve? I get 18 in at least once a week and try to play an evening round of as many holes as possible as well. My big work-ons are consistency off the tee. If I can hit the fairway I am usually putting for par (though often from 30+ feet) - it's recovering the bad tee shots which kill my rounds at the moment. - Post your past few rounds so we can see where you're at, your strengths and weakness' etc. etc. My last five rounds have been 88-95-90-90-84 (hence my earlier comment about a 'generous' 12). My strengths are short irons, pitching and lag putting. Weaknesses are a slice, flying my right elbow, fairway bunkers for some reason, and the most frustrating of all - following a perfect tee or approach shot with a load of rubbish. As an aside, I was lucky enough to visit the US for three weeks recently and played Hilton Head in SC (hat-tip to Fairway_CY) and Rock Creek, just out of Mobile, AL. Both good courses but renting clubs can be a bit of a lottery. Hilton Head's were straight out of a driving range bin, with horrible grips which gave me blisters so bad I gave up after 15 holes, while Rock Creek had the latest Vapors, which was lovely.